Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance

The NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI platforms clearly offer a superior gaming platform when compared directly to the Intel 955x platform. The performance of the Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe is at the top in the benchmarks except for Doom3. We are still investigating this difference in the test results compared to the Abit NI8-SLI. This board is arguably the best gaming platform available for Intel processors at this time.

We proudly introduce our latest benchmark for Quake 4 that was provided by personnel within the NVIDIA performance labs over the weekend. The demo consists of both outdoor and indoor areas with several players involved in both areas. We have also introduced F.E.A.R. and will be introducing NASCAR SimRacing, Falcon Four- Allied Force, Call of Duty II, City of Villains, Age of Empires III, and Civilization 4 into our benchmark suites over the coming weeks as we replace older benchmarks. Our F.E.A.R. results are based upon settings found in the recent Anandtech GPU performance test located here. We have listed the minimum and maximum frame rates attained next to the product label.

Memory Performance SLI Gaming Performance & Overclocking Performance
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  • Wesley Fink - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link

    Those accustomed to looking at AMD Athlon64 Performance Scores are used to seeing numbers almost the same across motherboards because the memory controller is on the CPU. The Intel Memory Controller is in the chipset and performance varies much more depending on the chipset and the quality of the motherboard design.

    That is one reason we often test Latency in Intel MB tests. If you look at the Latency test results in this review you will see a fairly wide variation across the tested chipsets and motherboards for the Intel CPU. Athlon64 Latency tests would all be virtually the same with the memory controller a part of the processor.
  • toyota - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link

    how can motherboards make that much difference in gaming?? in the Doom3 benchmarks they range from 63 to 95 fps! i dont understand benchmarks like that and nobody else ever makes a comment. am i missing something?
  • Gary Key - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link

    Good Day.....

    I revised the article statement about the Doom3 scores. I left it out on the final copy by mistake. We are still investigating the differences as an upcoming article from Randi on another nF4 Intel SLI board has scores higher than the numbers I have reported by a fair margin again. In fact, I will be testing the Abit board once it arrives with an disk image from my previous tests.

    Due to the memory controller not being on the CPU (current Athlon64 family design) the Intel based motherboard design makes a great deal of difference not only from a chipset choice but also from how well a board manufacturer designs and implements the supporting components and bios.

    Thank you.
  • xsilver - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link

    the 63fps is on another chipset, the chipset affects memory, hdd performance directly and everything else indirectly..
    the 95fps actually looks like an anomaly -- and AT member will have to confirm that (SLI setup in the NI8?)

    so in fact the numbers are actually 75.3-79.4fps which is an acceptable range for the same chipset
    many people forget the mobo is the heart of the system, it pays to get a good one :)
  • TransientBen - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link

    Mixing philosophy, classical literature and computer hardware reviews? Gotta love it. Though it's difficult to not get caught up in the philosophy and then question, "Is it worth $200 for a motherboard or a plane ticket to a new place?"

    There is so little time, afterall.

    Always been a big Asus fan. Have one of the first (original slot a) Athlon boards still up and running after all these years - rock solid - and, more recently, a Z33A laptop that's blown me away with it's quality. I look forward to the inclusion of many of these features on future AMD boards.
  • noac - Saturday, November 12, 2005 - link

    Hi, Im reading my manual and it says:

    DIMM_A1 (yellow), DIMM_A2 (black), DIMM_B1 (yellow), DIMM_B2 (black).

    Channel A = DIMM_A1 and DIMM_A2
    Channel B = DIMM_B1 and DIMM_B2

    For dual-channel configuration, the total size of memory module(s) intalled per channel must be the same (DIMM_A1 + DIMM_A2, DIMM_B1 + DIMM_B2).

    Anandtech:
    Asus did an excellent job with the color coordination of the various peripheral slots and connectors. The DIMM module slots' color coordination is correct for dual channel setup.

    My question which way is it? Im I getting the manual wrong? How to I palce my two mems for dualchannel?
  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link

    Email me if you have any issues or further questions please.
  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link

    Sorry about the late reply...

    You place the memory in the two yellow DIMM slots for dual channel.
  • Gary Key - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link

    quote:

    Mixing philosophy, classical literature and computer hardware reviews? Gotta love it. Though it's difficult to not get caught up in the philosophy and then question, "Is it worth $200 for a motherboard or a plane ticket to a new place?"


    Depends on the time and place in my book. :-> However, considering where I could go for $200 at this point in time I will take the board. I also believe Dickens is queued up for the next article.

    I had been concerned about Asus the past couple of releases as I honestly thought Intel had passed them on the high end side (useable features, stability, throw in Abit for performance) with their 925x and 955x boards until this gem landed on my doorstep.

    I think the AMD version of this board should be equally adept and we should find out shortly. ;->
  • xsilver - Thursday, October 27, 2005 - link

    I can see asus and the other mobo companies making this refresh right after/before christmas and then obviously another refresh for M2 socket

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